The New Girl
by BrutusXEnobaria
Summary: Brutus Jones is Panem Arts playboy and is currently going out with Cashmere. When the new exchange student from New York, Enobaria Ryder, shows up, he wants her. Brutus always gets what he wants, and he will not give up now. But will Brutus fall in love with Enobaria? Will she fall in love with him? Read to find out Rated T: highschool drama and some bad words
1. Chapter 1

**Brutus POV **

I was walking through the halls when a girl accidentally bumped into me. We both fell to the floor, but I quickly got up. She was still picking up her books that she dropped. I've never seen her before. "Watch where you're going!" I yelled.

"Sorry," she apologized. She looked up at me and I was mesmerized. She had beautiful tan skin, long dark hair, slender waist, toned muscles, and beautiful eyes. _Snap out of it, Brutus._

"You better be," I warned. I walked off and headed to my first period, Chemistry. In Panem Arts High School, the schedule is not like the other ordinary high schools. In the morning from 8:30 to 11:30 you go to the three academic classes that you have chosen. Then we have lunch at 11:30 to 12:30. From 12:30 to 3:00 you go to your talent class. Most people have one talent while others have two; which was rare. School basically ends at 2:00 but we're not allowed to leave the school. So we hang out at places like the cafeteria and the library, then we're allowed to go to our dorms; Panem Arts is a boarding school. No one in this school has had more than three talents. I walked into Biology and sat down by myself because Cashmere wasn't in this class. Ten minutes later, Ms. Effie, came in and got us all settled down. Her last name is Trinket, but she prefers us to call her by her first name.

"Okay class," she began to say. Ugh, I hate her annoying high-pitched voice. "Today we will be reading over Chapter Eleven and answer some questions."

Then the girl I bumped into came in – she was panting. Guess she had to run to get here. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost."

"That's alright, dear," said Ms. Effie. "Are you the transfer student from New York?"

"Yep," replied the girl, popping out the _p_.

"Oh!" exclaimed Ms. Effie with enthusiasm. "Class, I would like you to meet… What's your name?"

"Enobaria Ryder," replied the girl.

"Class, I would like you to meet Enobaria Ryder. She is from New York and she came on scholarship. Please make her feel welcome." Then Enobaria smiled. "You can take a seat right next to Brutus over there." She pointed at me and Enobaria sat down. I grinned, this was interesting. _Enobaria Ryder, huh? Wait, Ryder as in…?_

"Brutus Jones," I introduced myself while reaching out my hand for her to shake.

She didn't shake it. "Enobaria Ryder." She opened up her book and looked straight at the teacher.

"Ryder as in…" I began.

"Ryder as in Lacrosse Ryder," she snapped. No way, this girl is Lacrosse Ryder's daughter. He is the best quarterback player known to man. He's married to Genevieve Ryder, the world's top fashion designer. These people are filthy rich. I've seen Enobaria before on TV, but I didn't recognize her now because she looked so different. She didn't have on any makeup and her hair was in a high ponytail. She still looked beautiful. _Stop saying that._

I went back into reality once Ms. Effie snapped her fingers in my face to grab my attention. "Brutus, quit bothering that poor girl and get to work. You'll be her partner and help her out since she hasn't read the other chapters with us." Then the whole class began to read and answer questions about the chapter.

"Ugh," I said as I leaned on my chair. "Do you need any help?" I asked her in a boring voice. She shook her head no and began to read. I got bored and decided to read also. Once we finished reading, we answered the questions. More like she answered the questions. I gotta say, she was really smart, especially since she didn't know about the past material we've read through.

Ms. Effie passed by our table and checked our answers. "All correct," she said, impressed. "Oh, Enobaria. Since midterms are coming in less than a month, I won't be putting all of the material we've learned since August, since you just got here today."

"That's alright," said Enobaria. _Was this girl crazy? Does she want to fail the first semester?_ "I'll do just fine. I have no problem with taking the full midterm just like everybody else."

"Are you sure?" asked Ms. Effie.

"Yes," replied Enobaria. "I'm sure." This girl was something else. Then the bell rang; she grabbed her cross over tote and her books.


	2. Chapter 2

**Brutus POV**

"Hey," I called out to her after leaving the classroom. "What's your next class?"

"Why do you care?" she snapped.

"Just trying to help," I said. She began to walk away. "If your next class is English, you're going the wrong way." She turned around and looked at me. "Come on, I have English, too. I'll walk you there." She rolled her eyes and began to walk next to me. "Want me to carry your books?"

"No," she said while holding onto her books tighter than before.

"Sheesh," I said.

Her face softened a little. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bite your head off."

"So, Ryder," I began to start a conversation.

"Don't call me that!" she yelled. She turned away and eyes began to water. I guess she didn't like being called by her last name.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"It's fine," she told me. "Let's just go." She walked and I followed her until we reached English class. I sat down next to Cashmere and put her arm around her. She giggled and kissed me on the mouth. We weren't going out; we just had sex a lot of times. I was the school's playboy. I stopped making out with her and once I saw Enobaria sitting next to Johanna Mason. They were alike in many ways; I could imagine them as friends. Enobaria said something funny and made Johanna laugh; which was rare because she only smiled and laughed with her friends.

I got up and walked up to them. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, Brutus," said Johanna while wiping a tear of her eye from laughter.

"Wanna go out on a date?" I asked Enobaria out of the blue.

She just stayed still and looked at Johanna. "Hmm… let me see, NO."

I was shocked; she is the only girl in the school to say no to me. This is going to be harder than I thought. "Why not?"

She rolled her eyes and smiled at Johanna, who smiled back. "How stupid do you think I am? I know you're the school's playboy. I've seen how those girls look at you."

My blood was boiling. I always got what I wanted; I wasn't going to give up now. "Listen, you little-" I was cut off by Cinna walking into the classroom.

"Okay class, please sit down," he said. "Brutus, especially you." I sat down next to Cashmere and crossed my arms over my chest. "Well, I see a new face today. Come up to the front." He said to Enobaria. She stood up and walked to the classroom. Cinna took her hands in his and smiled at her. "Are you the exchanged student from New York?" She nodded her head yes. "Class, this is our exchange student from New York. She is here on scholarship and please make her feel welcome. Your name?" he asked her.

"E-" she began to say but I cut her off.

"Enobaria Ryder," I answered for her.

"I'm sure that she can speak for herself, thank you," said Cinna to me. "I've heard so many great things about you," he said to her. She blushed a little and he motioned for her to walk back to her seat. "Okay class, today we will be taking the test about Romeo and Juliet." We all groaned. He handed everyone the tests and stopped when he went up to Enobaria. "I'm going to give the test to you. Don't worry – if it's good I'll count it, if not then I won't." He smiled and she smiled back. We all took the test in silence until time was up. "Alright class, time is up. Please give me your tests on the way out."

I set down the test and left the classroom. By the time I left, Enobaria had disappeared out of my sight. I groaned and went to Calculus.


	3. Chapter 3

**Enobaria POV**

I went to my next class, Honors Calculus. I sat down alone until a tall handsome figure with blonde hair sat next to me. "Is this seat taken?" he asked me. I shook my head no and took out my textbook. "Finnick Odair."

"Enobaria Ryder," I said to him.

He smiled at me and I returned the smile back. "Are you new?" I nodded. "Who have you met so far?"

"Brutus Jones, Cashmere, and Johanna Mason," I replied.

"Johanna's the best. She is so fierce and scary but she can be nice when she wants to be. But that Brutus guy, I suggest that you stay away from him; and Cashmere too," he advised.

"Don't worry. I know that he's the school's playboy. I turned him down when he asked me out," I told him.

His eyes grew wide and he stared at me in shock. "You said no to Brutus?"

I nodded yes. "What's the big deal?"

"He _always_ gets what he wants. You're practically the only girl who's turned him down. The other girls who hadn't said yes are the one who hadn't gotten asked; like Annie, Katniss, Finch, Johanna, Madge, and some other girls."

"Who?" I asked. I didn't know any of the people he was talking about.

"Oh," he said. "You haven't met them yet. I'll introduce them to you during lunch if you want." I smiled at him and said yes.

Then the teacher came in. "Good morning, class," he said.

"Good morning, Beetee," the class said in unison. I guess this school calls all their teachers by their first name, odd. I was waiting for him to make a show about me being the new student from New York, scholarship, blah, blah, blah. But he didn't, which relieved me. We made eye contact and he smiled at me. I got down working on the classwork that was written on the board. The bell rang and it was time for lunch.

"Enobaria?" asked Finnick. I turned around to face him. "Want me to introduce you to the gang?" I nodded yes and followed him to the cafeteria. "I have to go to talk to a teacher about something, be back in five. If you're done and I'm not here yet, go to that round table or look for Johanna." He left and I made the line. I got my food and stood around looking for Johanna when Brutus came up to me.

"Enobaria," he said while putting his arm over my shoulder. I shrugged his arm off. "Come sit with us." He pointed to a table with Cashmere, a blonde girl, a girl with dark brown hair, a guy with blonde hair, and two guys with light brown hair.

"No thanks," I said to him.

"Come on," he said. I shook my head no. I just wanted him to leave me alone.

Then Johanna came up behind him and pushed him away from me. "She said no. Get that through your thick skull." Then she motioned for me to follow her to the table. "Guys, this is Enobaria Ryder. This is Peeta, Katniss, Gale, Madge, Finch, Rue, Thresh, and Annie."

"Hi," I said to them. I sat down next to Johanna and Gale.

"Nice to meet you," said Gale. "Johanna told me what you did in English. You've got some guts, I like you already." I smiled.

Finnick came and sat down next to Annie, and then he kissed her cheek. "Have you all met Enobaria?" They all nodded.

"Tell us all a little about yourself," said Katniss.

"Well," I began. I hated to talk myself. I'm just not the person who is very confident about myself and I suck when it comes to talking about myself. "My full name is Enobaria Ash Ryder, I'm from New York, I dance and sing."

"Wait a minute," said Peeta. "Ryder as in Lacrosse Ryder?"

"That's the one," I said.

"Cool," said Peeta.

"Wait another minute," said Thresh. "Are you the exchange student who came here on scholarship?"

"Yep," I said. _How does everyone know I came here on scholarship?_

"Guys," said Annie. "Stop drowning her in questions. It's her first day, give her some space."

"Sorry," the guys all said in unison, except for Finnick.

"Why don't we all say what our talents are?" suggested Finnick.

"I paint," said Peeta.

"I work with fashion," said Katniss.

"I work with backstage stuff," said Finch. "Like scenery, lights, makeup, etc."

"I play the piano," said Annie.

"I sculpt," said Thresh.

"I sing," said Rue.

"I write songs," said Gale.

"I dance hip-hop and jazz," said Johanna.

"I choreograph dances," said Finnick.

"What dance do you do?" asked Annie.

"My main focus is ballet, but I do contemporary, modern, jazz, and hip-hop," I said.

"You also sing, right?" asked Rue. I nodded my head. "Wow, we barely have students at the school with two talents. And you also dance a lot of different dances. I'm impressed."

"Okay," I said. "Can we stop talking about me?" I asked. Then we ate for ten minutes. I noticed Brutus looking at me from time to time. "Who are those people sitting with Brutus?"

"The blondes are Cashmere and Glimmer, the one with dark hair is Clove, the ones with light brown hair are Marvel and Gloss, and the one with blonde hair is Cato." said Johanna. "Gloss and Cashmere are siblings."

We ate for another half hour until I had to go put my books away in my locker. "Bye guys. Nice to meet you all." I walked away and headed to my locker. I put my books in and closed my locker door only to be greeted by Brutus leaning against another locker.

"So," he said. "Made friends on the first day with _them._"

"Yep," I replied. I got a call from my dad. "Sorry." I answered the phone. "Hi dad."

"Sweetheart," he said. "We made it to the semi-finals and I won't be able to make it home for Christmas."

"Oh," I said a little disappointed. "Okay, well. See you next year."

"Bye sweetheart," he said. "I love you."

"Bye," I said to him. I hung up. I could never say 'I love you' back to him because he never really acted as a father to me.

"Hey," said Brutus. "You okay?" You seem a little disappointed." It must have shown on my face, a lot.

I shrugged off the tears that were beginning to form in my eyes and put on a happy face. "Fine," I told him.

"What's your talent?" he asked me.

"I dance and sing," I replied.

"Wow," he said impressed. "Two talents, huh?"

"Look, I better go," I walked away and left him behind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Brutus POV**

It was 1:30 and I walked out of guitar class. I'm free for the rest of the day, so bored. The worst part is that I can't leave school until 2:00. I decided to wander around some hallways and not be bored. I passed through the theater, through the singing rooms, and the dance studios. I walked passed them and immediately turned around once I spotted Enobaria through one of the glass windows. She had on a wine colored leotard with an open back, with pink tights that went below her knees, a white pancake tutu, and pointe shoes. She was dancing with some other guy; it was called pas de deux. She had great extensions, a flexible back, good arch, delicate arms, good turn-out, good balance, and she could do five pirouettes. _Impressive_. I know this stuff because on break, I'm the one who has to take my little sisters to ballet class. I've gone so many times; I've practically learned the whole ballet vocabulary.

The dancers did their salutes and the class was over. She put on a sweater and shorts after taking off her pointe shoes._ Youchy_ I thought once I saw how sore Enobaria's feet were. I knew they hurt, but I didn't think they'd hurt that much. "Brutus, what are you doing here?"

"I got bored so I decided to wander around," I replied.

"Oh," she said. "What's your talent?"

"I play the guitar," I replied.

"Cool," she said. "Which one? Acoustic, electric, bass?"

I was impressed about how much she knew about instruments. "All of those."

"Impressive," she said.

"What about you?" I asked her. "Do you just dance ballet?"

"No," she said. "Jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and modern."

"Wow," I said. "That's amazing." She blushed a little. "So, what are you doing now?"

"I'm going to my dorm," she said.

"I'll walk you there," I said. She just rolled her eyes and began to walk. We walked for three minutes until I broke the silence. "What's it like?"

"What's what like?" she asked me.

"To be the daughter of Lacrosse and Genevieve Ryder," I answered.

"It's alright," she replied while looking down to the ground.

"Alright?" I asked in disbelief. "I bet it's better than just 'alright'. You live in a mansion, you're rich, what more could you ask for?"

"You wouldn't understand," she said. "You're just like the rest of them."

"Them?" I asked. "I bet you that those guys you sat with in lunch were just as enthusiastic about you being Lacrosse's daughter as I was."

"Then you're wrong," she said. "Because they didn't make a big fuss about it."

"There you are!" said a voice from behind Enobaria; it was Cashmere. She pushed herself past Enobaria and hugged me. "Do you mind?"

"I was just leaving," replied Enobaria. Cashmere grabbed my arm and we went to hang out at the lounge with Clove, Gloss, Marvel, Cato, and Glimmer. We talked for a bit; but I couldn't focus on what they were saying. 'Just like the rest of them.' I thought. Those words were playing through my mind hundreds of times before I stood up and went to my dorm. It was about 8:00 when I woke up from my nap. I felt so bad; I should go apologize to Enobaria. I left my dorm and made my way over to hers. I knocked on her door and heard a "Come in!"

I went in and saw Enobaria lying on the floor on a yoga mat doing curl-ups. _Talk about dedication_ I thought to myself. Ballet is more than just taking classes. A dancer needs to work on cardio, muscular strength, resistance, and practice. "What do you want, Brutus?"

"I came to apologize," I said.

"Oh really?" she said in disbelief. She stopped doing curl-ups and sat up to face me. "What are you gonna apologize to me about?"

I stayed silent. "For being a jerk to you. I shouldn't of have said that about your life. I had no right."

"Alright then," she said while stretching. 'This girl is flexible.'

"What does that mean?" I asked her unsure of what she was telling me.

"It means that I forgive you," she said. I sighed in relief. "But, don't think I haven't changed my mind about you. I still think that you're a playboy and you're nothing but arrogant and cocky."

At least she forgave me; one step at a time and I'll have her. "I should go," I said. "Bye."

"Goodnight, Brutus," she said to me in a sweet voice. I couldn't help but grin while leaving the room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Enobaria POV**

The past couple of weeks have passed by quickly. I fit in with the gang and they liked having me as a friend. I still dance and I still sing. Brutus and I are civilized with each other, but we're not friends. He still tries to take me out; but I refuse. One day, the gang and I are heading to our normal lunch table, when we see that we have intruders. Brutus was sitting with Cashmere, Clove, Glimmer, Marvel, Gloss, Cato and Marvel. They were waiting for someone, probably us. "What are you bastards doing here?" growled Johanna.

"We're here to make you a deal," said Brutus.

"What kind of deal?" asked Gale.

"I found this picture on your Instagram page," said Brutus while holding up his phone, showing us the picture of Peeta smoking weed for the first and last time of his entire life.

"How did you find that?" asked Peeta. "I deleted that five minutes after accidentally posting it."

"Tell you what," said Brutus. "I won't post this online if you and your little gang go out with us on Friday night to this new place called 'Karaoke All Night'."

We all looked at each other before Finnick yelled "Huddle!"

"What are we gonna do?" asked Annie.

"We have to go!" said Peeta. "If that goes online I might as well kiss Panem Arts goodbye."

"We're going," said Madge. "Don't worry."

"Yeah, but doesn't this sound a little fishy what they're doing?" asked Gale.

"You're right," said Johanna. "He probably wants something."

"What could he possibly want?" I asked.

"I don't know," said Katniss. "But we're going and that's final." We pulled away and looked at the arrogant bastards sitting in our table.

"We'll do it," said Gale.

They all looked at each other and smirked an evil grin. "That's the spirit," said Brutus while getting up. "Meet us at the front of the place at 8:00 p.m." They all left and we sat down, looking at each other worriedly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Enobaria POV**

Before I knew it, it was Friday afternoon and I was getting ready for our little 'agreement' we had with the arrogant dickheads. I showered, blow-dried my hair, straightened it, got dressed, put on my makeup and jewelry, and sprayed some perfume. I was wearing black jeggings, a plum short sleeve chiffon shirt, black heel boots that went below my knees, platinum round earrings shaped like little balls, and a black cuff with floral designs engraved on. For makeup, I had on tinted moisturizer, bronzer, blush, a gold shimmery color on my eyelids, black eyeliner and mascara, and brown brow pencil. For a purse, I brought my plum cross over box clutch containing my phone, wallet, ID, and keys to my dorm. I walked out of my room to be greeted by Katniss, Johanna, Annie, Finch, Madge, and Rue.

"This is gonna be a long night," I said. We walked downstairs and we all squeezed into the minivan for 8, but we were 12, so Annie sat on Finnick's lap and I sat on Gale's. It wasn't weird or awkward because we've grow close during the past weeks.

"We're here," said Peeta; who was the one driving. We drove to the front of the hang-out and a valet parking worker opened the door for us. He opened the door that was facing the hang-out, which was next to me and Finnick. I spotted Brutus' group waiting for us outside.

Brutus was a little angry with seeing me sitting on Gale's lap. I got off his lap and got off the minivan, followed by the others. "You made it," said Brutus while we walked towards them. "Let's go in. Does everyone have their fake IDs?" We all nodded and walked towards the entrance.

**Brutus POV**

Enobaria's group walked in first, showed their fake IDs, and they were let in. I was behind Enobaria and I think her ID was real. _Must have gotten it from her dad._ We walked in and sat down in a large round table. My group sat in one half while Enobaria's gang sat in the other. A lady came by us and asked us if we wanted drinks.

"Seven cherry colas," I said.

"And twelve Mountain Dews and one root beer, please," said Finnick. The drinks came five minutes later. My group grabbed their drinks and drank them down like normal people. But Enobaria's group was putting a little bit of root beer in their Mountain Dues. Strange, but they all seemed to like it.

"Does that taste good?" I asked Enobaria. She nodded yes and gave a sip of hers to Gale because he finished his all up. "I've never seen you drink that."

"Oh," she said while putting down her drink to face me. "We only drink it together as a group." We then ordered appetizers and sat in awkward silence.

Cashmere decided to ask Enobaria an interesting question. "I hear you sing. Are you any good?"

Enobaria looked at her confused. "I guess." _What is Cashmere up to?_

"I bet you that I'm better," said Cashmere.

Enobaria raised her left eyebrow and looked at her. "Is that a challenge?"

"Alright," said Cashmere. "We'll sing with a partner. Loser has to pay for the entire group."

"Deal," said Enobaria. Five minutes later, Cashmere and Glimmer walked up to the stage and sang Number One. They did alright, it wasn't the best performance. Once they were done, everyone clapped. "We're clapping because it's over," said Enobaria. I chuckled. "Ready?"

"Let's beat those white blonde's asses," said Johanna. They went up to the stage and the DJ asked them what song.

"We're gonna sing 'Give it Up'," said Johanna.

"Alright, a little R&B action tonight!" said the DJ.

"Yeah, just play it," said Enobaria.

**Give It Up**

_E: Someday I let you in_

_Treat you right_

_Drive you out of your mind, oh_

_J: You never met_

_ A chick like me_

_ Burn so bright_

_ I'm gonna make you blind_

_Both: Always want what you can't have_

_ But is it so bad if you don't get what you wanted_

_ Make you feel good as I'm with you_

_ Let me shape ya boy_

_ Let's get it started_

_ Give it up_

_ You can't win_

_ Cause I know_

_ Where you been_

_ Such a shame_

_ You don't put up a fight_

_ That's a game_

_ That we play_

_ At the end of the night_

_ It's the same old story_

_ But you never get it right_

_ Give It up_

_ Come a little closer_

_ Come a little closer, baby, baby_

_ Come a little closer_

_ Come a little closer, baby, baby_

_E: So stop crying _

_ Don't walk away_

_ No you won't_

_ Ever leave me behind_

_J: You better believe that I'm here to stay_

_ Cause you're the shade and I'm the sunshine_

_Both: Look at me boy_

_ Cause I got you where I want you_

_ Isn't it so exciting_

_ Wanna shake you_

_ Wanna break you_

_ Take a back seat boy_

_ Cause now I'm driving_

_ Give it up_

_ You can't win_

_ Cause I know _

_ Where you been_

_ Such a shame_

_ You don't put up a fight_

_ That's a game_

_ That we play_

_ At the end of the night_

_ It's the same old story_

_ But you never get it right_

_ Give It up_

_Come a little closer_

_ Come a little closer, baby, baby_

_ Come a little closer_

_ Come a little closer, baby, baby_

_ If you are my baby_

_ Then I'll make you crazy tonight_

_ Look at me boy_

_ Cause I got you where I want you_

_ Isn't it so exciting_

_ Wanna shake you_

_ Wanna break you_

_ Take a back seat boy_

_ Cause now I'm driving_

_ Give it up_

_ You can't win_

_ Cause I know _

_ Where you been_

_ Such a shame_

_ You don't put up a fight_

_ That's a game_

_ That we play_

_ At the end of the night_

_ It's the same old story_

_ But you never get it right_

_ Give It up_

_ Oh, oh, ohhhh, yeah!_

The crowd roared and stood up applauding them. They were really good. "They did alright," said Cashmere. Johanna and Enobaria sat back down and ate their food. By the end of the night, Cashmere and Glimmer had no money on them. "Brutus, what are we gonna do? We don't have that kind of money and the bill in $145.70."

Enobaria took out her wallet and grabbed her master card. "Here," she said to the waiter. He took it and left.

"You didn't have to," I told her. "You won."

"It's fine, really," she told me.

"Cashmere, Glimmer," I said to them, waiting for them to thank Enobaria.

"Thanks Enobaria," said Cashmere.

"I don't know what we would have done without your help," said Glimmer.

"It's nothing," said Enobaria. The waiter brought her master card and handed it to her. "Thank you." We all stood up and left.


	7. Chapter 7

**Brutus POV**

"Aww man," said Peeta. "Motor's busted. It'll only be able to hold eleven of us."

"I can walk," offered Enobaria.

"Are you sure?" asked Gale.

"It's fine," said Enobaria. "It's like what, ten minutes?"

"Twenty," clarified Finnick.

"Okay then," she said.

"I'll walk with you," I said. I got a glare from Finnick and Gale, but I shrugged it off. "Bye guys." We walk off into the streets. It was a bit chilly, considering the fact that it was winter. Enobaria seemed a little cold, so I took off my jacket and handed it to her. "Here."

"You really don't have to," she said.

"I want to," I told her. "And besides, you paid for the night." She accepted my jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. We walked for a minute until I broke the silence. "Do you have any brothers?"

"I have an older one, Jason. He's off in college," she said.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" I asked her.

"He, umm…," she said. "We broke up. He cheated on me after I told him that I was going to transfer."

"I'm sorry," I said.

"It's fine," she told me. "I got over it, he was a jerk."

"A jerk who didn't know what he had," I said. She smiled and we kept on walking. "I'll walk you to your dorm."

"Oh, Brutus," she said. "You don't have to."

"I walked you here, might as well walk you to your dorm, right?" I asked.

Once we got there, Enobaria reached for her keys and went in. "Wanna come in?" I nodded yes and followed her in. I walked in and I saw a simple dorm room. I expected chandeliers, gold furniture, and expensive stuff. But no, it was simple. That was one of the things I liked about her. She didn't brag or make a big deal about being rich; she wasn't obnoxious. She took off my jacket and handed it to me. "Thanks."

"No problem," I said. She sat down on the sofa and patted an area next to her for me to sit on. Was that a guitar?

"Is that your guitar?" I asked.

"My brother's before he quit," she said while getting up to grab it. It was an acoustic guitar. She sat back down and handed it over to me. "You can play if you want." I took it and set it on my knee. I played 'The Cave' by Mumford & Sons. "The Cave?" I nodded yes and continued to play while she listened. Once I finished I handed her the guitar and she set it down on the floor. I looked at a picture sitting on her desk. It was her in a green tutu dancing on stage. She looked amazing.

"Is that you?" I asked her. She nodded yes and I got up to get a better look. "You look amazing."

"Thank you," she said.

"What are you doing this weekend?" I asked her.

"Hang out with my friends, study for midterms, practice, and sew pointe shoes – just boring stuff." She replied.

"I still can't believe you," I told her.

"Believe what?" she asked.

"That you would take all of the full academic midterms when the teachers have offered you to take the parts that you've learned," I replied.

"I'm up for a challenge," she said. "And I don't like special treatment."

"Why not?" I asked her.

"Because I would always get special treatment when I was in New York because of my parents," she replied.

"Oh," I said. I went into her closet and found a whole shelf with old broken down pointe shoes. "How many pairs do you have?"

"I have about one hundred ten to one hundred two," she replied.

"How long do they last you?" I asked her.

"About two weeks," she replied. "Depends on how hard I dance in them."

I looked at the clock and saw that it was 10:33. "I should go. Bye, see you around."

"Goodnight," she said.


	8. Chapter 8

**Brutus POV**

I am so bored! Gloss and Cashmere are going Christmas shopping, Cato and Clove are making out in Cato's dorm, and Glimmer and Marvel are out on a date. I wonder what Enobaria's doing. I should go ask her out. I walked to her dorm and knocked on the door.

"Come in, Brutus." _How did she know it was me?_ I went in and saw Enobaria doing a perfect side split while leaning down reading her Biology text book. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," I told her. "Do you have any plans today?" She shook her head no. "Well, there's this movie I want to see, 'Tiger Eyes'. Wanna come with?"

"Where's Cashmere?" she asked.

"Christmas shopping with Gloss," I replied. "Why are you asking?"

"So I'm your second choice," she said.

"What?" I asked. "No, she doesn't like these types of movies and I wanted to take you."

"Alright," she said. "Let me get changed first." She stood up and went to her bathroom to change. In Panem High School, each dorm gets its own bathroom. She walked out and was wearing a lace short sleeve blouse, an open front cardigan, blue jeans, and boots. "Let's go." We walked out of school grounds and found my motorcycle. I grabbed my helmet and handed her an extra. I sat down and she sat down behind me, holding on tightly. When we got there, me made the line for the tickets. "Two tickets for Tiger Eyes, please." said Enobaria while handing the lady a $20 bill.

"I'm paying for food," I told her.

"Alright," she said. We went in and made the line for food.

"One extra-large popcorn with sprite and – What do you want?" I asked her.

"Same as you," she said.

"Two medium sprites and a bag of pretzel M&Ms." I said. I handed her $15 and we left to see the movie. I grabbed the popcorn while Enobaria held the drinks and the M&Ms. We got into the room and I asked her, "Where do you want to sit?"

"Uh," she said, looking for a good seat. "All the way up." We climbed up the stairs and sat down right in the middle.

I sat down, set the popcorn between the both of us while Enobaria handed me my drink with a straw and the M&Ms. "What do you think the movie's about?"

"Didn't you tell me that you wanted to see this movie?" she asked. "Who goes to see a movie if the person doesn't even know what it's about?"

"I was curious," I said to her while grabbing a handful of popcorn.

She smiled and grabbed a handful of popcorn as well. "It's about a girl who goes to live in Mexico."

"How do you know?" I asked her.

"I read the book," she said. Then the movie started and we sat in silence. The movie was pretty sad. This girl lives with her mom and brother and they're dealing with the fact that the dad died. They go to live in Mexico for like a month and the girl meets new people and goes on adventures. When the mom heals, they go back to live in their hometown. During the movie, I casually put my arm around Enobaria. She noticed but she didn't mind. When the movie ended, we got up and left the room.

I took out the bag of M&Ms and popped some into my mouth. "Want some?" She shook her head no. "Here," I said while handing the bag to her and walking away about nine feet. I turned around and faced her. "Throw them." She rolled her eyes and began to throw them into my mouth. I caught them all in, mostly because she has really good aim. When she looked at her side, she froze. I think she saw something or someone. She walked up to me and gave me the bag of M&Ms.

"Can we go now?" she asked. I nodded and we walked to my motorcycle. We got to the school and I walked her to her dorm. "Thanks for today. I had fun."

"I had fun, too," I said. "I'll see you tomorrow. Ugh, I hate Mondays."

"I do too," she said. "This week will fly by, and then we're off to vacation."

"Bye," I said.

"Goodbye, Brutus," she said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Brutus POV**

I was heading to class when I saw Enobaria sitting in her normal seat, she looked stunning. I didn't know what it was, but she was glowing. I walked in and sat down next to her. "Good morning."

She looked at me and smiled. "Hi."

I looked over and saw that she was working on. "What are you working on?"

"Oh," she said. "You mean this? It's just my Christmas shopping to-do list." There were so many people on her list.

Then Effie walked in and began to teach the class. "Okay class, since today is review day, I will let you all review with a partner. Choose your partner wisely because if not, I will have to separate you both."

I looked over at Enobaria. "Wanna be my partner?"

"Why not?" she asked. She quizzed me and then I quizzed her. I'll be lucky to get a B+ while she'll probably get a 100. Class ended and we got up.

"Oh," said Effie. "Don't forget to buy tickets for the Winter Formal. It will be held on Thursday in the ballroom."

"Are you going?" I asked Enobaria while we walked to our next class.

"Uhhh… probably," she said.

"Who with?" I asked.

"No one, really," she replied. "I'm not ready to go out with someone, yet."

"But you told me that you got over him," I said.

"I did, but that doesn't mean that I'm ready to go out with someone yet," she explained.

"I understand," I said to her.

"What about you?" she asked me. "Don't you have a date for the Winter Formal?"

"Nah," I said.

"What about Cashmere?" she asked me.

"We broke up," I said.

"Sorry," said Enobaria.

"It's fine," I said. "It was never going to work out anyways." We kept on walking. I wanted to ask her to go with me, but she'll probably say no since we're not dating. "Wanna go out on a date?"

"Uhh…" she said. "I don't think that I'm ready for going out on a date."

"Oh," I said. "Okay, sorry I asked."

"No," said Enobaria. "Don't feel bad. It's not you; it actually has nothing to do with you. I just need some time."

"I understand," I said. "Here we are, English."

"Bye, Brutus," she said to me. I walked in the classroom and sat by myself. I want this day to end, already. _So stupid._ I said to myself. _Why did you have to ask her out and make a fool of yourself?_ Class ended and I was about to leave, when Enobaria came up to me and handed me a note. Then she walked away. I looked at the note and I smiled. 'Yes, I will go out with you. Call or text me 555-0129.' I am so excited, this is gonna be great. At 2:00 I took out my phone and texted her.

B: I'll pick you up in an hour. Wear something casual. ;)

E: Alright. =p

What a cute happy face, I thought. I went to my dorm, changed into a white shirt sleeve shirt and faded blue jeans with my NIKEs on. I left my dorm and walked up to hers. Just as I was about to knock, she opened the door. She was wearing black leggings with a white tank top, a denim jacket and black boots. For shoes she wore red converse and a cross-over black bag. I was beginning to like her style. It was layback, edgy, and her. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," I said. We walked off campus and went to the city on my motorcycle. "Voilà!" I got off my motorcycle and helped her get off. "Let's just hang around here."

"Cool," she said. We walked around and looked at all the stores. We went to Abercrombie & Fitch, Lulu lemon, and Nike. We went to Borders and looked around.

"What's your favorite book?" I asked her.

"The Fault in Our Stars," she said. My cousins have read it, but I never had much interest in books, at least not until now.

"I'll read it and tell you my thoughts," I said to her. She smiled and we walked out. "You hungry?"

"A little," she said.

"Want to get ice cream?" I asked her. She smiled and nodded her head. We went in and ordered. I got a cone with two scoops of Chocolate Therapy, while Enobaria ordered a cone with one scoop of Heath Bar Crunch and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

"That'll be 7.95," said the lady. Enobaria took out a $10 bill.

"Keep the change," she told her. The lady accepted the change and smiled at her.

"Next time I'm paying," I told her while we walked out of Ben and Jerry's.

"Okay," she said before licking her cone.

We walked for about five minutes until the craziest idea came up to my mind. "Have you ever gone to the beach here?"

"Nope," she simply said.

"Then let's go!" I said while taking her arm and running up to my motorcycle.

"This is crazy," she said. "I like crazy." I smiled and focused on the road. Five minutes later we arrived at a beach. "Wow."

"Let's go down," I said while running down the sand with my shoes off. She took off her shoes and followed. We sat under the sun and just enjoyed being with each other. "I'm in the mood for a swim. Race ya!" I took off my shirt and ran into the water. I turned around and saw Enobaria standing in the sand, looking at me. "Come on!" She shook her head no. _Time for some very bad acting._ "Oh no! Help me! I'm drowning!" I was just playing, and she knew it, so she wasn't freaking out. She took off her denim jacket and shoes and ran into the water. She swam next to me and I snaked my hands around her waist. "I think I need CPR."

"People who need CPR can't talk," she said while she was still giggling.

I stared into those beautiful green eyes. "If I were to kiss you right now, would you pull me away?"

"Depends if you were actually going to do it," she said in a happy voice. I kissed her softly on the lips without even thinking twice. I pulled back to see her reaction. She quickly caught my lips again and I grinned into the kiss. We were interrupted by a big wave crashing over us. I resurfaced and looked for Enobaria.

"Enobaria!" I yelled. "Where are you?"

She resurfaced and I swam up to her. "That was so fun!" she said. I wasn't sure if she meant the kissing or the wave crashing over us, or both. I chuckled and kissed her. Then we got out of the water and sat on a bench trying to dry off. She squeezed some water out of her hair and tank top. A half-hour later, we got on my motorcycle and went back to school. I walked her to her dorm. "Bye Brutus," she said to me. I didn't want to let her go, I felt so complete with her.

"Bye, Baria," I said to her. I pecked her on the cheek and she entered her room. I went to my dorm, took a shower, and went to bed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Brutus POV**

The next morning I woke up happy, even though we had to take our finals today. I got dressed and headed down the hall to see what classroom I was in. I had my Biology midterm in Cinna's room. I wonder if Enobaria will be there too. They always mix us up. We begin our midterms at 8:30 and we finish at 10:30. We get an hour of break and then we have lunch. After that, we have our talent classes as usual. I walked into the room and take out three #2 pencils and an eraser. I saw Enobaria come in and I motioned for her to sit down next to me. She sat down and I pecked her on the cheek.

"Good morning, Baria," I said to her.

She blushed. "Morning, baby." The way she called me 'baby' sent a rush of affection through my body. I've been called baby many times before by many girls, but with Enobaria it just sounded so right for some reason. "Are we going to tell our friends?"

"Only if you want to," I told her.

"I want to," she said. "I don't like keeping secrets from them."

"If you're happy," I said. "Then I'm happy."

Then our proctor, Wiress, came in and gave us our tests. "You have two hours and no talking." Two hours later, our time was up and we had free time.

"I'd so much rather spend time with you," I told her. "But I promised Cato that I would help him study for his final."

"Okay," she said. "I'll see you soon."

"You sure you're okay with me going?" I asked her.

"Baby," she said. "It's fine. I don't want you to stop spending time with your friends because of me. Go."

"I love you," I said to her while kissing her on the lips.

"Go," she said to me. I walked away and went to the cafeteria. I was kind of relieved that Enobaria let me hand out with my friends. She didn't try to change me, she accepted me for who I was.

XXX

I went to the library and sat next to Cato. He needed help on his Science paper because he needed extra credit. He was talking to me the whole time, but I was distracted the entire time. Cato put down his pencil and looked at me. "Brutus, what's going on?"

"Okay," I said. I sighed and prepared to confess."I'm going out with Enobaria.

"What?" he asked. _Lord help me_. "You're actually going out with _her_?"

"Yeah," I replied. "And? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, I'm just impressed," he said. "I would've gotten into her pants before you, but I'm with Clove. How long until she'll agree to sleep with you?"

"I'm not planning on getting into her pants," I said to Cato.

"Then why are you dating her, then?" he asked.

"Because I actually like _like_ her," I told him before turning away and blushing.

"Wow," said Cato. "She's changing you, man."

"She is not!" I snapped at him while getting up from my chair. "She actually accepted me for who I am!" I sat back down and calmed myself down. ]

Cato stared at me in shock. "You must really like her."

"She drives me nuts, in a good way," I said, looking up thinking about my beautiful Enobaria.

"What's Cashmere gonna do when she finds out?" asked Cato.

"She won't find out because I was planning on telling you guys at lunch and I don't care if she gets mad. She can't tell me what to do," I said.

"Then why are you so distracted?" asked Cato.

"I was thinking about how to ask Baria to the Winter Formal," I said, looking down at my feet.

"Who?" asked Cato.

"I mean Enobaria," I said to him.

"Aww," said Cato. "You even have a pet name for her. It's even a cool one. Not like one of those stupid ones like the ones that girls make up for the boys. Dunky, Freddy, Booboo bear, you get the point."

"Yeah," I said while blushing.

"Man," said Cato. "You must have it bad for her. I know how you can ask her to the Winter Formal."

My eyes light up. "How?"

"Okay so what you have to do is…"


	11. Chapter 11

**Enobaria POV**

I was sitting with the gang in the lunch, but my mind was somewhere else. _How am I going to tell them? What are they gonna think? Will they not want to be my friends anymore?_

"Enobaria," said Finnick. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I lied. He gave me a stern face. Ugh, fine.

"I have something to tell you guys," I said.

"You're going out with Brutus," said Gale. Everyone's eyes shot wide open and looked at me.

"Yes," I said. "How did you know?"

"You seemed happier today and I saw you kissing Brutus in the hallways," replied Gale.

"Oh," I said. "Are you guys mad?"

"No, we're not mad, just a little surprised." said Peeta.

"If you're happy, we're happy," said Rue.

"But if he hurts you," began Johanna.

"We'll take care of him," said Finnick.

"Thanks guys," I said. "I don't know what I would do without you." We were playing Mafia when Cinna came to our table and put something in front of me and walked away. I looked at it and I saw that it was 'The Fault in Our Stars' in hardcover. I opened it to the first page where the dedication part was, but instead of saying, 'TO ESTHER EARL' it said 'TO ENOBARIA RYDER'. There was also a pressed flower and a card. "Will you go to the Winter Formal with me? –Brutus." I smiled and looked at everyone.

"Will you?" asked a voice behind me. I turned around and jumped into Brutus' strong arms and kissed him on the mouth. "Is that a yes?"

"Of course," I said. "I'll meet you there because the girls and I are getting ready at my house and we're going in the same car."

"The car that had you all squished in together like sausages?" he asked.

"Yep," I said.

He pecked me on the temple and I smiled. "But I'm taking you home."

"Okay," I said.

"I should go," said Brutus. "I have to explain to my friends the whole situation." I walked to my table and sat down.

Johanna leaned next to me and showed me her phone. "This is so going on the yearbook." She took a picture of me on top of Brutus kissing him while he held me in his strong arms. It was a beautiful picture. I can't wait for the Winter Formal.


	12. Chapter 12

**Enobaria POV**

Before I knew it, the Winter Formal was only a couple hours away. This night is going to be magical. All the girls were getting ready at my house. Katniss was wearing a red/orange dress, Rue was wearing a blue dress, Finch was wearing a green dress, Annie was wearing a baby pink dress, Madge was wearing a peach colored dress, Johanna was wearing a black dress.

I was wearing a silver dress. My dress was strapless, sweetheart neckline, high-low, and chiffon. The top was covered with diamonds and the bottom was chiffon. It was a very wintery dress; good for the occasion. For heels, I was wearing glitter platform pumps. I was wearing foundation, blush, frosty eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner, and a light pink lipstick. My hair was curled and put into an elegant low side bun with a small hair accessory.

Once we were ready, we made our way to the car. We talked about random things; makeup, winter break, Gatorade. Apparently, everyone is going away.

"I'm going to Veil with Peeta," said Katniss.

"I'm going to visit my cousins in Mexico," said Finch.

"I have to go to Nebraska," said Johanna.

"Me and Thresh are going to go camping," said Rue. She and Thresh are a nature lovers, that's for sure.

"I'm spending the vacation with Finnick in New York," said Annie.

We got to the place and ran inside because it was freezing outside. The ballroom was beautiful; very wintery. It had just the right amount of crisp and coziness. All of us split apart in search for someone. I was looking for Brutus for three minutes, until I finally found him. I was relieved to find him, but then I saw him kissing Cashmere. My heart broke into pieces. _How could he? After I even trusted him._ He saw me and stopped kissing Cashmere, but I turned around and ran away from them.

I ran outside, but I was stopped when Brutus grabbed onto my shoulders. "Enobaria," he said while catching his breathes. "It's not what it looks like."

"Not what it looks like!?" I snapped, shrugging off his hand.

"Let me explain," he said.

"Fine," I said. "Explain to me why you were interested in me since the first day you met me. Why did you make me fall in love with you while you still like Cashmere?"

"I don't like Cashmere. I don't want Cashmere. I want you, no; I need you." He said.

I was fighting back tears, but I stayed strong. "We're over, Brutus," I stated.

"Give me a chance," he said.

"I have given you a chance," I said. "I still went out with you even after I knew that you were a playboy. I should have known that you were nothing but trouble. I thought you were going to fight for me! I thought wrong. It's my fault too, I was easy."

Brutus stared at me. I walked away and got into the minivan. I cried, a lot. After I was done crying, I fell asleep in the back of the car, curled up into a ball; feeling small. I woke up when I heard the doors opening. "Enobaria," said Johanna. "Where have you been?"

"Here," I replied

"Why?" asked Katniss.

"Brutus was kissing Cashmere in the dance," I said. All the girls gasped.

"I'm so sorry, Enobaria," said Rue.

"Wanna sleep over at my house?" asked Johanna. "Better yet, let's all have a slumber party!"

"Can we invite the boys?" asked Finch.

"Yeah!" said Johanna. These girls put a smile on my face, no matter what.

"I'll tell the boys," said Annie while taking out her phone.

"We need to sugar load," said Johanna. "I'll drop you all at your houses so that you can all pack and in an hour I'll pick you all up."

"Why don't we just carpool with the boys?" asked Katniss.

"Great! I'll call them," said Annie. "Gale! You're on speaker with me, Johanna, Rue, Finch, Katniss, and Enobaria."

"Oh," he said. "Hey Enobaria, what's up baby sis?" That's his nickname for me; we were so close that we considered each other brother and sister.

"Nothing," I said. "Where are you guys?"

"We're still at the party. Brutus has gone completely hay-wire," said Gale. "Wonder what his problem is. So how'd it go with Brutus?"

"Well…" I began.

"Is that Baria?" asked someone, it was Brutus.

"Who now?" asked Gale. They never knew about Brutus' nickname for me.

"Is that Enobaria?" clarified Brutus.

"Yes…," said Gale. "Anyways, so what- ahhhh!" screamed Gale. I could hear Gale and Brutus fighting over the phone.

"Baria, I –" Brutus got a hold of the phone, but then Annie hung up.

"Why don't we call Finnick, instead?" asked Annie. "Finnick, emergency. We need to have an emergency slumber party at Johanna's house. Pick us all up in an hour. Tell Gale, Peeta, and Thresh."

"Okie-dokie," said Finnick.

"Oh, Finnick!" I said. "You don't have to pick me up. I'll walk to Johana's."

"Bye," he said. Johanna dropped us off at our houses and left to buy junk food and sugar. I entered the lonely house and went upstairs to my room. I set down my duffel bag on my bed and began packing. I was done, so I picked up my duffel and swung it over my shoulder. The book that Brutus gave me fell off of my bed. I picked it up and stared at it. _What now?_ I opened up my nightstand drawer and shoved the book inside. I wasn't going to burn it of throw it away like other girls do; that would be stupid of me. And I am definitely not like those other girls. I still had extra time, so I went downstairs to the living room and watched some T.V. Forty-five minutes later; I began to walk over to Johanna's.


	13. Chapter 13

**Enobaria POV**

I was walking on the sidewalk when I bumped into someone; Cato. "Hi Enobaria."

"Hey," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"Just decided to take a walk," he said. "Walking takes my mind off things,"

"Really?" I asked. "Me too. I practically walked around everywhere back in New York. I still walk around here too, but not as much."

"Brutus is a mess," he said out of the blue. He was probably still at the party when Brutus went hay-wire.

"I've heard," I said.

"Even though I'm his friend, I don't agree on what he did today," he said. "I thought he would take it steady with you – actually settle down, but he hasn't changed. It's a shame; he didn't know what he had." Then his phone rang. "Sorry." He picked it up.

"Cato," said Brutus. "Where are you?"

"I'm taking a walk," replied Cato.

"You're with Baria, aren't you?" asked Brutus.

"Who's Baria?" asked Cato. I giggled. No one understood his nickname for me.

"Enobaria," said Brutus.

"Oh," said Cato. "Now I get it. So what if she's with me?"

"Put her on the phone," said Brutus.

Cato looked at me and I shook my head no. "She's in the bathroom." I slapped my hand against my forehead and chuckled.

"While going out on a walk?" asked Brutus in disbelief.

"Ugh… " said Cato. "I have to go. I have a date with Clove. Bye." He hung up. "Why did you giggle when I asked about who was Baria?"

"Oh," I said. "It's just that when Brutus called me that, no one understood who he was talking about."

"Oh," said Cato. "That's a cute nickname."

"What's your nickname for Clove?" I asked him out of curiosity.

"Clover, Cloverfield, Clovely, I could go on," he replied.

"Well you should go," I said. "Go have fun on your date with Clove."

"I lied about that," said Cato.

"Then call her up and ask her out," I suggested.

"Good idea," said Cato. "Bye."

"Oh," I said, turning around. "And Cato? Don't ruin your friendship with Brutus just because of what he did today. You may not agree with what he did, but he is your buddy. And I don't want to be the reason why you two aren't friends anymore."

"Thanks Enobaria," said Cato while walking away. I began to walk and I made it to Johanna's.


	14. Chapter 14

**Johanna POV**

I told everyone but Enobaria to be at my house 20 minutes early so that we could discuss some things. We got the food ready, ordered pizza, and sat down for a discussion. "Okay, I have gathered you all here for an emergency slumber party."

"For what?" asked Peeta "Bonding?"

"More a less," I said. "Brutus was cheating on Enobaria with Cashmere." All the guys were furious. "Guys, I need you all to focus. This is the drill. When Enobaria comes in here, you are not to talk about relationships, you better not talk about Brutus, and you better not talk about the Winter Formal. No kissing, no cuddling, nothing that has to do with relationships. Do not bring up that subject, but if Enobaria wants to talk about it, we help her. Got it?"

"Sir, yes sir," said all the boys in unison. Then the doorbell rang.

"Act normal!" I whispered. I opened the door and let Enobaria in.


	15. Chapter 15

**Enobaria POV**

I rang the doorbell and Johanna opened the door to let me in. "Hey, girl."

I gave her a small smile. "Hi, long time, no see."

"Come on in," she said. I walked in and set my bag down. The windows were draped with long curtains and the room was illuminated by Christmas lights hanging all over the place. The kitchen counter was filled with candy, sodas, and junk food. I went into the living room and I got attacked by Gale giving me a bear hug. The room was warm and cozy; something that I would never have in my house. The sleeping bags were placed in a large circle around the fireplace. It was nice to be with my friends. We all got changed into our pajamas and sat down. We played go-fish and Finnick was winning so far; big surprise for fish boy to be winning a game of go-fish.

Then the doorbell rang and Gale was as alert as a lion. "PIZZAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He stood up and ran to the door. He was acting like a little kid, it was so adorable. "Oh my god! The pizza is so pretty!" The pizza man was looking at Gale in a weird face. "Gimme, gimme, gimmeeeeeeeee!" He took the pizza boxes out of the man's hands and ran back inside.

"You still need to pay!" said the pizza man.

"No we don't!" said Johanna. "You got here thirty-one minutes after we ordered!"

I got up and walked to the door. I took out my wallet and give him the money. "Here."

"You don't have to pay," he said.

"Take it!" I said.

"My boss will know," he said.

"Then consider that as friendly a tip," I said.

He smiled and I smiled back. "Thanks. Merry Christmas!" I closed the door and we continued to play go-fish. Once we were done, we snuggled up inside our sleeping bags and watched the movie Elf. Even though it was a little kid's movie, we still loved to watch it. After all, we still are kids. Johanna went into the kitchen and came back with three big tubs of ice cream.

"We have vanilla, chocolate, and cookie dough!" said Johanna excitedly. Almost everyone got chocolate, but I got everything. I got three big scoops of each flavor, whipped cream, caramel syrup, gummy worms, and cherries.

Once we finished with our ice cream, Finnick went into the kitchen and got four big bottles of Mountain Dews and a big bottle of root beer. "Shall we?!"

"We shall!" we all said in unison. After the movie everyone was passed out from all the food and excitement; everyone except for me. I couldn't stop thinking about Brutus. I hate to think of it, but I miss him so much right now. I just want to snuggle into his muscular arms and never let go.

"Enobaria?" whispered Gale. "You awake?" I turned around to face him and nodded yes. "You're thinking about someone."

"Am not," I denied.

"Then why can't you sleep?" asked Gale. Damn it; he knew me too well.

"I'm thinking about what happened yesterday at the Winter Formal," I said.

"Yesterday?" asked a confused Gale.

"Yes," I said. "Yesterday because it's two a.m."

"Oh," said Gale. "Wanna talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about," I said. "I mean, he was all over me since the first day I got here. I was stupid enough to go out with him and let him into my heart. I felt like I could trust him, like he changed. Then he asked me to go the Winter Formal and he cheated on me with Cashmere and now here I am, at an emergency slumber party with my best friends."

"And you said that there wasn't anything to talk about," he joked. I smiled and yawned. "Get some sleep, baby sis. Everything's going to be alright." I snuggled into my sleeping bag and fell into a deep slumber.


	16. Chapter 16

**Enobaria POV**

I woke up when the sun's rays hit my face. I stretched and rubbed the sleep off my eyes. _Where was everyone?_

"Hey Enobaria," said Johanna. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Where'd everybody go?"

"Oh," said Johanna. "Gale's mom called and told him that he had to be home, Annie and Finnick went to pack for their trip, Rue and Thresh went to go camping, Katniss is helping Peeta in the bakery, Finch had to help her dad with something, and Madge went shopping."

"Oh," I said.

"Enobaria," she said. "My parents are going to be home now any minute. So, uh, could you…"

"Oh," I said in realization. "I get it, it's fine. Do you want me to at least help you clean up?"

"No, it's alright," she replied. "Cleaning lady's going to come in an hour."

"Bye," I said. "Thank you for everything."

"Anytime," she said before hugging me. "Bye."

I was walking when all of a sudden a car was driving right next to me. The person rolled down the window and took off his sunglasses. "Hi." Gloss…

"Hello," I said in a cold voice.

"Need a ride?" he asked me.

"No," I said. "I can walk."

"Come on," he insisted

"You're the second to last person I want to talk to right now," I snapped. "Actually, third to last. You're sister's won second place."

"And I'm guessing that Brutus if first?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"What are you doing here, Gloss?" I asked him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I've lived in this neighborhood for about a month now and I've never seen you or your friends hang out around here," I said. "Are you guys stalking me or something, because yesterday I saw Cato around here, too." Then the wind was starting to blow hard and it was starting to snow.

"Are you gonna get in or what?" asked Gloss.

I sighed, opened the door, and sat in the passenger seat. "I can't believe I'm doing this," I muttered to myself. Gloss put on his sunglasses and began to drive. "In case you haven't noticed, it's winter and it's snowing! You don't need sunglasses in winter!"

"I guess you're right," he said while taking them off. "Where do you live?"

"Four blocks away," I said. We sat down in silence, so I turned on the radio. The song 'The Cave' by Mumford & Sons came up. I instantly turned off the radio. The song reminded me of the night when Brutus came into my dorm room after going to 'Karaoke All Night'.

"Shame," said Gloss after I turned off the radio. "I liked that song."

"Yeah," I said. "Well I used to like it too."

"We're here," said Gloss. I got out and grabbed my bag.

"Thanks," I said. He drove off and I entered my big and lonely house. I went upstairs to my bedroom and unpacked. I was practicing my arch with a thera-band until the tears came. I hated tears; they would come when you least and most expected them to. I silently cried for a whole five minutes. I'm so bored, and I will always be bored during this vacation. Mom and dad are in Paris and my brother is spending Christmas with his girlfriend in Miami. If I'm going to be stuck here, then I might as well do something entertaining.


	17. Chapter 17

**Brutus POV**

Aww, man. I screwed up big time_. Stupid, stupid, stupid._ I had one chance and I blew it. "Brutus!" called my mom. "It's time for you to take your sisters to their ballet class."

Shit, I almost forgot. "Coming," I said while going down the stairs.

"Booboo!" said my sister Cara. She's the middle child; six years old. I'm the oldest of the three.

"Hi baby girl," I said to her while picking her up into my arms. _I miss picking up Enobaria in my arms._

"Let's go," said Sam. She's the youngest; four years old.

"Okay then," I said. I stopped walking when I felt something tugging on my leg.

"Coco," said Sam. "I want you to carry me too!"

I chuckled and picked her up in my other arm. "Bye mom."

"Be careful," she said.

"Booboo will protect us if anything bad happens," said Cara. We walked outside; I opened the car to the door and buckled up my sisters into their car seats. I sat down in the driver's seat and put on the radio. Ten minutes later we arrived and they wanted me to carry them, again. I picked them up and walked up to the front desk.

"Hi," I said. "My sisters are here for the 10:30 a.m. ballet class."

"Oh," said the lady. "The class is in seven minutes. Please wait until the teacher comes out of her class to teach your sister's ballet class."

"Thank you," I said.

"I'm Portia, by the way," she said.

"Brutus," I introduced. "Bye." I went into the waiting room and sat down next to my sisters. So bored… I stood up and decided to see the more advanced dancers. That girl reminds me a lot of Enobaria. Wait… I think that is Enobaria! I think I felt my heart jump. I watched Enobaria dance in her pointe shoes with amazement. She was so graceful, yet sharp on her feet.

"Coco," said Sam. "When do we start to dance?"

"When the teacher comes out of her class," I replied. Seconds later the more advanced dancers come out of the studio looking exhausted. Enobaria rushed out of the studio and went to the desk to grab the attendance sheet. Just as she was about to enter the studio, all the little kids went up to her and hugged her. They must really like or she's a really good ballet teacher. There was something about Enobaria's smile that made her look beautiful.

"Enobaria!" called Portia.

"Yes?" replied Enobaria while holding up a little boy in her arms. She must really love children and children must love her.

"You will have two new students in your class from now on," said Portia.

"Great," said Enobaria while putting down the child. Then a little girl grabbed onto her leg and wouldn't let go. "Who?"

"Those girls behind you," said Portia.

Enobaria turned around and saw me. "Brutus, hi."

"Hi," I said.

"Are your sisters taking my class?" asked Enobaria.

"Uh… y-yeah," I stuttered.

"Ready?" asked Enobaria to Cara and Sam.

"I'm scared," said Sam.

"Why are you scared?" asked Enobaria in a gentle voice.

"This is my first ballet class," said Sam.

"Oh," said Enobaria. "Don't worry. It'll be fun, promise." Then she picked up Sam. "Would it make you feel better if your brother watched the class from inside the classroom?" Sam looked at me and I nodded yes, with expectation in my face.

"No," replied Sam. A frown appeared on my face. Then Enobaria and the rest of the class entered the studio. First they did warm-up on the floor, then they did barre work, water break, they moved to the center, and finally did a curtsey. Enobaria was a really good teacher. She taught them basic things and pushed them, but not too far. She was sweet, but also strict. The class ended and all the children were hugging Enobaria and saying goodbye. All the kids went out except my sisters. _Where did they go?_ I peeked into the classroom and saw Enobaria discussing something with my little sisters.

"So Sam," said Enobaria. "Did you like your first ballet class?"

"It was great!" replied Sam.

"You're an awesome teacher," said Cara. Then they both hugged her and she hugged them back.

"Coco!" exclaimed Sam. "Look. I have a sticker!"

"Me too!" said Cara.

"That's great!" I said. I picked up Cara and motioned for Sam to get into my arms, but she didn't. Instead, she faced Enobaria and raised her arms up to hers. Enobaria chucked, picked up Sam and walked out of the classroom, followed by me.

"We have to go now," I said.

"Aww," said Sam. "But I wanna hang out with Enobaria!"

"Me too," said Cara.

"I'm sure that she'd love to be with you, but she has work to do," I said.

"I'm off now," said Enobaria. "That was my last class of the day."

"Great!" I said. "Wanna go out for ice cream with us?"

"Sure," she said. She put down Sam. "Just give me a minute." She went into the office and seconds later she came back with her dance bag and a new outfit. _That was fast._ "Ready." Then Sam pleaded for Enobaria to pick her up, and so she did. I think that Enobaria was carrying more with than I was; she was carrying her dance bag and my little sister.

"Want me to hold that?" I asked her, referring to her dance bag.

"It's fine," she said. She was very strong. We walked out and headed to my car. I put Cara in her car seat and Enobaria put Sam into hers. I sat in the driver's seat and Enobaria sat down next to me in the passenger seat. She didn't act awkward around me at all; it's like she forgot about what I did in the Winter Formal. But I think she didn't bring up the subject because my little sisters were with us and it would be a bit awkward. I turned on the radio and the song 'The Cave' by Mumford & Sons came up. I was beginning to think about that night after Karaoke All Night.

"Brutus," said Enobaria. "Brutus."

I went back into reality. "Sorry, what is it?"

"Cara asked you a question and I think you passed Baskin Robins a mile ago," she said.

"Oopsie," I said while making a U-turn.

"Booboo," said Cara.

"Yes, baby girl?" I replied.

"Can we get a big ice-cream cake?" asked Cara.

"Sorry," I said. "But no. We're going to have dinner soon."

"Aww," said Cara and Sam in unison. We got to the speaker of the drive through.

"One kiddie cup with cookies-n-cream, one kiddie cup with mango-mango, one cone with double chocolate, and –" I said. "What do you want?"

"Uhh…" said Enobaria. "A cone with chocolate chip cookie dough."

"And a cone with chocolate chip cookie dough," I said. Enobaria took out her wallet, but I beat her to it. I took out my wallet and handed the lady my ATH card. "Thank you." The lady handed us our order and I gave them all their ice creams. I handled the wheel with one hand while the other held onto the ice cream cone. I was having a little difficulty, and I think that Enobaria was beginning to notice. She took the cone from my hand and held it next to me so that I could lick it while still handling the wheel with both hands. We got home and I unbuckled Cara's seatbelt while Enobaria unbuckled Sam's. Enobaria swung her dance bag across her shoulder and both Cara and Sam ran up to her and begged her to carry them. Enobaria looked at me as if asking what to do.

"Enobaria's been carrying you girls for a long time," I said. "Don't you think that she could use a break?" The girls looked down in despair but were still glad that Enobaria was with them. I opened the door and my sisters went running in looking for mom. "Mom! We're home." My mom came out of the kitchen while she was holding Cara.

"Oh," she said. "You brought a friend."

"Hi," said greeted. "I'm Enobaria."

"Wait," said my mom. "_The_ Enobaria? You're my son's girlfriend! Ron, come here! Meet Enobaria!"

"Mom," I said. I was telling her to cut it out by waving my fingers through my neck.

"She's the greatest ballet teacher ever!" yelled Sam. Enobaria was getting a little sweaty and shaky.

"Hi Enobaria," said my dad. "I'm Ron. I've heard great things about you."

"Oh," said my mom. "She is so much better than that Cashmere girl."

"You see," said Enobaria. "About that –"

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" asked dad.

"Come meet the family," said mom.

"Are you and Coco going to get married?" asked Cara. In a matter of mere seconds, Enobaria's eyes shut and she collapsed on the floor.


	18. Chapter 18

**Enobaria POV**

**Dream**

I was in the gardens of a beautiful house on a lovely sunny day. I was wearing a white strapless dress and my hair was up in a braided low side bun with flowers in it and I realized that I was wearing an engagement ring. I heard church bells ringing and I followed the place where the sound was coming from. In the white gazebo there was a wedding; Brutus was the groom and I was the bride. Is this the future? In the audience, there was my mom, dad, Jason, is girlfriend, Finnick, Annie, Peeta, Madge, Gale, Johanna, Thresh, and Finch. On the other side of the audience there was Brutus' mom, dad, Sam, Cara, Cato, Gloss, Marvel, Clove, Glimmer, and Cashmere.

"Do you," said the man who was going to marry us began to say. "Brutus Jones, take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?

"I do," said Brutus.

"And do you," he said. "Take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," I said.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," he said. "You may kiss the bride." Just as Brutus lifted the veil from my face to kiss me, it wasn't me. It was Cashmere. I looked back to where Cashmere was originally sitting, but it was me who was sitting there. Then the engagement ring that was on my finger disappeared and reappeared on Cashmere's finger. Brutus and Cashmere kissed, then I felt a big pain in my heart and I collapsed onto my knees. Then a big black whole came out of nowhere and took everything; the sun, the sky, the grass, the gazebo, even the people. I was left in darkness, never to find true love again.

**End of Dream**

I awoke suddenly and I felt a pang of pain in my head. Where am I? Was I in the hospital? Last thing I remember was entering Brutus' house. I tried to move my hand, but couldn't. Brutus was sitting next to me in a chair while holding my hand in his. He was asleep, but he had a worried expression on his face. I shifted a little, and he woke up. "Hi, glad you're okay."

"Thanks," I said. "Why am I here?"

"Oh," he said. "Well, once we entered my house, my family kind of overwhelmed you with questions about you and I and you fainted. So we took you here, to the hospital."

"Well that explains the pain in my head," I said.

"Doctor said that nothing serious happened," he said. "He also said that it would be expected for you to experience headaches. If you do, lie down for a while and take some Advil. If that doesn't help, put some ice on your head. Oh, and they also said that you would be free to go after you woke up."

"Okay," I said. "Where's your family?"

"Oh," he said. "They had to go because the girls were tired, but I decided to stay." I looked at him as if I he had to do something obvious. "Oh, right. I'll be outside while you change." I got changed and grabbed my bag.

"Let's go," I said.

"Not until you let me carry your bag," he said. I rolled my eyes and handed him my dance bag. "What do you carry in here? Rocks?" We walked out of the hospital and went into my car. It was a silent drive, peaceful even. "We're here. I got out of the car and grabbed my dance bag.

"Brutus?" I asked.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Thanks, for everything," I said. I walked up to her front door and entered my dark, big, and lonely mansion.


	19. Chapter 19

**Brutus POV**

I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep; might as well go for a jog. I walked out of my front door and spotted a person jogging through the side walk. _Was that Enobaria?_ I tried to catch up to her, but man, she was fast.

"Enobaria!" I shouted. She turned around while still jogging.

"Hi!" she yelled back. She turned around and focused on her breathing. I'm going to have to catch up with her now. I sprinted next to her and jogged beside her. She handed me the other half of her ear bud and I gladly took it. We listened to a bunch of songs; we even began to sing along together to the songs we knew. A half hour later, we stopped and went by Smoothies for Life. She ordered a mango lemon smoothie with protein powder and I ordered strawberry banana with protein powder. We sat outside and talked about random things.

"What are you doing today for Christmas Eve?" asked Enobaria before taking a sip of her smoothie.

"My parents are throwing a party at my house," I replied. "What about you?"

"I am staying home," she replied.

"Lucky. I wish I could just spend a normal night with my family at my house," I said.

"Who said I was going to be with my family? I'm staying home alone." Enobaria said.

"Wait," I said. "You're telling me that you're staying home alone on Christmas Eve?"

"Yes," she said.

"Well why didn't you tell me before?" I asked. "Come to the party at my house tonight!"

"Oh," said Enobaria. "You don't have to, really."

"Enobaria Ryder," I said. "I have said this before and I will say it again many many times in the future: I want to."

"Alright," she said. "What time should I show up?"

"Nine-ish" I said.

She plugged in her ear buds and ran away. "Bye!" I waved goodbye and sat by myself. _I should probably get her a present._ I went into Tiffany and Co. and didn't come out a half-hour later.

XXX

I got out of the shower and checked to see who was calling me. Enobaria, of course. "Brutus, what should I wear?"

"Uhh…" I said. "Clothes, perhaps?"

"Hahaha," she sarcastically laughed. "For real, though."

"Well, to give you an idea, I'm wearing black jeans and a grey long sleeve button down shirt," I told her.

"Great," she said. "Bye." I got dressed and put on some cologne. An hour later, I had to go downstairs and meet the guests. So. Freakin'. Bored. Then the doorbell rang and I ran to the door and opened it. There she was; the definition of beautiful. Enobaria was wearing a red chiffon long sleeve blouse tucked in under her white lace skirt. She wore black strap-on heels and was carrying a black box clutch.

"Hi," I greeted.

"Hello," she said.

"Come on in and enjoy the party," I said. She walked inside and Cara and Sam ran up to her and hugged her. She hugged them back and all three of them were smiling like crazy. Cara and Sara spotted a jar full of peppermint candy and ran to it with all their might.

"This is an amazing party," said Enobaria.

"Come meet my parents," I said. "Don't worry. They won't drown you with questions and I cleared some things up with them." We walked to the living room and I spotted Mom and Dad. "Mom, Dad. Meet Enobaria."

"Hi," said Dad while shaking Enobaria's hand. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," she said.

"So glad that you came to the party," said Mom. "I asked Brutus if he wanted to bring any of his friends, but he said no. then he came in an hour later and said that he invited you."

"Mom," I said. "I think that's enough. Let's go." Enobaria and I walked away from my parents and I gave her a tour around the house. I showed her the kitchen, the living room, the basement, the bathrooms, the backyard, Cara and Sam's room, my room, and then we went back to the living room. I had so much fun; we danced, sang, and ate together.

XXX

Everything was so much better when Enobaria was around. After supper, we sat down on the couch by the fire and just talked. "Oh my god, I almost forgot. Here." She handed me a small box wrapped in metallic grey wrapping paper with a red bow. I took it from her and opened it. It was a watch from Cartier, it wasn't fancy or anything, more like something you could wear every day.

"Wow," I said. "Thank you. We have something for you too."

"We?" asked Enobaria. I stood up and went to the kitchen looking for Cara and Sam.

"Cara, Sam," I said. "Ready to give Enobaria her present?" They nodded yes and I picked them up and took them to the living room where Enobaria was waiting for me. I sat down with Sam on my lap while Cara went over to Enobaria, who set her down on her lap. "Enobaria, we have a Christmas present for you."

Cara took out a paper from her pocket and began to read from it. "Dear Enobaria, thank you for everything that you have done for us. We love taking ballet class, especially because you're our teacher. We hope that with your help, we can be just as good as you are. Thank you for joining us for ice cream and for carrying Sam and I everywhere we want. Please don't change and keep being the amazing person you are now." Sam and Cara each gave Enobaria a hug, which she gladly returned.

"Cara! Sam!" called my mom. "It's bedtime."

"Aww," they both said in unison. "But we're not tired and we don't wanna go to be."

"But if you don't go to bed, then how will Santa come tonight and bring you your presents?" asked Enobaria in a childish tone. Sam and Cara looked at each other and raced upstairs to their bedroom.

"Wow," I said. "We have never been able to do that, ever." She smiled and I smiled back.

"Want some eggnog with a little bit of rum?" asked my dad while holding a tray with mini glasses filled with eggnog.

"No thank you, Mr. Jones," said Enobaria. "I don't really drink a lot of alcohol."

"Alright," said dad. "And you can call me Ron." He winked at her and walked away.

"How come you don't drink alcohol?" I asked her.

"Oh," she said. "Well, I don't think it's really necessary to drink at times. But sometimes I make exceptions."

"I'll be back," I said. I stood up and went to the kitchen to prepare us some hot chocolate. I poured the hot chocolate into two mugs and walked back to the living room. I saw Enobaria talking with someone on the phone. _Wonder who._

"Maman, je vous ai dit. Je suis à la maison d'un ami. Oui, je vais vous voir bientôt. Jason est à Miami avec sa petite amie. Au revoir," said Enobaria. She hung up and I sat down next to her. I handed her the cup and she took it in her hands. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I said. I took a sip and so did she. "I didn't know you spoke French. Who were you talking to?"

"My mom," she said. "We don't speak French, but since she's in Paris, so she wanted to practice a little."

"Cool," I said. "How do you say 'you'?"

"Vous," she replied.

"How do you say 'love'?"

"Amour," she replied.

"And how do you say 'I'?" I asked.

"Je," she replied.

"Then in that case," I said while putting down mine and Enobaria's mug down and taking both of Enobaria's hand in mine. "Je t'aime, Enobaria."

Enobaria stared at me. _Was it wrong to do that?_ "You're really good," she said. "You should take French."

"Enobaria," I said. "I'm serious. I. Love. You. I'll say it in one-hundred more languages if I have to prove it to you."

"I don't know," said Enobaria.

"Enobaria," I said. "Please, give me another chance."

"Tell you what," she said. "I'll consider giving you another chance if you tell me what happened back there in the Winter Formal."

"I…, uh," I said while rubbing the back of my neck. "Do you really want to know?"

"Do you really want me to give you a second chance?" she asked.

"Okay," I said. "Here's the truth. You know that before we started dating, I was a playboy." She nodded yes. "Well, when I fell in love with you and we started dating, people thought that I was getting soft."

"So you cheated on me because of what other people thought about you?" asked Enobaria.

"No," I said. "Just let me explain. I have never really actually loved someone, ever. I never experienced love with anyone, except with you. You came into my life, and everything changed. I fell for you, and I got scared. I was scared about loving someone. I was worried that I wouldn't do a good job with loving you, and then you would leave me." I cupped Enobaria's cheek in my hand. "But the thing is, I'm not scared anymore. I love you, Baria. And I will never do something that will hurt you ever again."

She did something I thought she would never do in a million years, she kissed me. Those three seconds of my life were the best, no doubt. I felt joy, sparks, and pure happiness. We pulled apart and she looked into my eyes; she smiled. "I missed when you called me 'Baria.'" I smiled and pulled her in for another kiss, this time hanging on a little longer than the second. We pulled apart when heard the flash of a nearby camera.

"Mom!" I said while she was holding up the camera.

"Sorry," she said.

I groaned and faced Enobaria. "My family is so weird."

"I like weird," stated Enobaria.

"Oh," I said. "The present that Cara and Sam gave you… It was more like _their_ present for you. I got you a present from me." I took out the small Tiffany and Co. box and handed it to her. She carefully untied the white ribbon and opened up the box. Her eyes lit up like the sun. She carefully took out the olive leaf band ring in sterling silver. I took it from her hand and put it on her left middle finger. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," she said. She wouldn't stop admiring it. "Merry Christmas, Brutus."

"Merry Christmas, Baria," I said. I kissed her, again. I could kiss Enobaria an infinity amount of times and never get bored of doing it. The rest of the night, we spent talking about random things.

"Shoot," said Enobaria. "Brutus, how are we going to tell our friends?"

"That is the least of our problems," I said while putting my arm over her shoulder. "Let's just enjoy being together, now."

"Alright," she said. She rested her head on my arm while still facing me. "I love you, Brutus."

"I love you, too," I said. "What are you doing tomorrow morning?"

"I have no idea," she said. "What about you?"

"My mom and dad are going on a business trip tomorrow early in the morning, so my sisters are going to be sleeping on their way to grandma's." I replied.

"So you're not doing anything tomorrow morning?" she asked.

"Nope," I said.

"Wanna stay at my house tonight?" she asked.

"Sure, why not?" I said. "Let me go ask mom and dad." I stood up and went to the kitchen and found mom and dad. "Mom, dad. Since I'm going to be all alone tonight and tomorrow, can I stay over at Enobaria's house?"

"Alright," said dad.

"It's fine with me," said mom. "You can leave at 11:45 pm."

"Thanks," I said. I walked away and sat down next to Enobaria. "They said yes. We can leave at 11:45 and be back tomorrow whenever."

"What time is it now?" asked Enobaria.

"Oh, I don't know," I said. "Why don't I check my brand new watch that my beautiful girlfriend gave me for Christmas?" She smiled and I grinned back. "It is 11:30. Let's go to my room and pack." We walked upstairs and entered my room. I grabbed my duffel bag and began to pack my stuff. I glanced at Enobaria and saw her staring at her ring. She must really like it. "Done." We walked downstairs and said goodbye to everyone. We walked outside and got into my car. We listened to music the way to her house and we sang along out of pure joy. We got to her house; we got out of the car, and entered the mansion.


	20. Chapter 20

**Brutus POV**

We walked in, turned on the lights, and went upstairs to her bedroom. Her bedroom was huge. It had a king bed in the very middle, a big chandelier hanging over the twenty foot ceiling, rich carpeted flooring, a vanity, a desk, nightstands, chests, drawers, and a sofa. She also had a very large bathroom and walk-in closet. I put down my duffel bag and we both began to change into our PJs. I was wearing a black short sleeve t-shirt with long blue pants. Enobaria was wearing long black pants and a red tank top. She lay down on her bed and patted for me to sit next to her. I lay down and she cuddled next to me.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said.

"Ooh!" said Enobaria. "Instead of sleeping up here, why don't we sleep in the movie room? It has a sofa-ish bed thingy there instead of regular movie seats and we can watch a movie and not have to come back up and just be lazy!" She said that sentence with such rapidity and excitement; I was not going to deny her offer.

"Let's go!" I said. We ran downstairs, grabbed two pillows and a large blanket, and headed to the movie room. We entered and I was amazed. The room was incredible, it had a large flat-screen T.V. that hung from the wall, it had a large sectional sofa shaped like a bed that had good support for watching a movie, but it was also like a sofa-bed. The room also had a popcorn machine and a fridge with beverages and candy.

"Do you want salty or sweet tonight?" asked Enobaria.

"Whatever you want," I said.

"Then let's do sweets," she said. She walked to the fridge and grabbed three tubs of ice cream and a load of candy. "I have rocky road, chocolate chip cookie dough, and mint chocolate chip." She took out a big bowl and a scoop. "Which flavors do you want?"

"Whatever makes you happy," I said while pecking her temple. She giggled and served us two scoops of each flavor into the bowl. Then she topped off the ice cream with whipped cream, gummy worms, chocolate chips, cherries, and chocolate syrup. She handed me the big cold bowl and she grabbed two large spoons and the candy. I sat down on the sofa and then she followed. I put the ice cream in between us and Enobaria grabbed a few of the many remote controls. She turned on the T.V. with one, then she changed the input from T.V. to Netflix with another, and finally she began to search through Netflix with another control.

"What do you want to watch?" she asked me. I was about to open my mouth, but she interrupted me. "And don't say 'whatever you want'."

"How about a Christmas movie?" I asked. "Maybe 'Home Alone'?"

"Perfect!" said Enobaria. "Let's watch the second one, it's my favorite one. He gets lost in New York, that's the dream." She pressed a bunch of buttons and the movie appeared on the screen. During the movie, we ate the big bowl of ice cream, ate the load of candy, and snuggled. I noticed that Enobaria was playing with her ring the entire time during the movie. When the movie ended, Enobaria turned off the T.V., turned off the lights, and snuggled closer to me. I draped the blanket over the both of us and wrapped my arms around her. She fell asleep to the steady beating of my heart and I fell asleep a few minutes later admiring her beauty.


	21. Chapter 21

**Brutus POV**

I woke up when the rays of sun hit my face. For some reason, I felt worried. How am I going to explain to Enobaria's friends about us being together, again. They probably won't approve of me going out with her after what I've done. I have to do something to prove to them that I'm worthy of Enobaria, but what? I was released from my thoughts when I felt a figure lying next to me move. She turned around and faced me. "Hi."

"Hey," I said. "You sleep well?"

"Yes, indeed," she said. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too," I said before pecking her on the temple.

"What shall we do today?" she asked. I have no idea. _Wait! I can prove myself to Enobaria's friends. _

"What are your friends up to?" I asked her.

"They're away," she replied. _Damn it!_ Then, Enobaria got a call and she leaned over to answer it. "Hello? That's great! Sure. Okay, I'll think of something. Bye." She hung up.

"Who was it?" I asked.

"It was Finnick," she replied. "He said that they all came home early and they want hang out."

"Oh," I said.

"You should come too!" said Enobaria. "It'll be heaps of fun. You'll actually get to know them."

"Alright," I said. "If that's okay with you."

"Great!" she said. "Let's get this place cleaned up and then let's go get ready. Wait! Where should we go?"

"Ice skating, perhaps?" I suggested.

"Awesome!" said Enobaria. "Let me text Finnick and the rest." She took out her phone and texted Finnick. "He said that it sounds like a plan. We'll eat breakfast and meet them at the ice skating rink." We cleaned up the movie theater room and went upstairs. Enobaria showered in her own bathroom and she let me shower in the large guest bathroom. After that, I got changed and went into Enobaria's bedroom. I was so stupid that I forgot to knock and I accidentally walked in on Enobaria while she was getting dressed.

"Sorry!" I apologized before closing the door.

"It's fine," she said. "You can come in." I walked in and she was in her bra, but she had her pants on. She didn't seem to care at all about the fact that I saw her in her underwear. She had on a wine colored long sleeve shirt with a black vest and black jeans. For shoes, she had on black boots. "Ready."

"Let's go," I said. I grabbed my duffel bag and followed Enobaria outside to my car. I put my duffel bag in the trunk and opened the door for Enobaria, even though she was perfectly capable of doing it herself. I closed the door and sat in the passenger seat.

"Let's eat breakfast," said Enobaria. "Where to?"

"Um," I said. "How about Denny's?"

"Sure," she said. We talked, sang, and listened to the radio. After Denny's, we headed to the ice skating rink, which was five minutes walking next to Denny's. We walked together in silence hand in hand. I so was nervous. _What will Enobaria's friends think of me?_ We arrived at the skating rink and waited for Enobaria's friends.

"Baria?" I asked.

"Yeah, baby?" she replied.

"What if they don't like me?" I asked.

"Relax," she assured me. "They are really nice people and you guys just need to get to know each other better. If you want, we can go out with your friends some time so that I could get to know them."

"You're the best," I said while pecking her cheek. She giggled and I smiled. Then, Enobaria's groups of friends were only a few yards away from us. I tightened my hand that was holding onto Enobaria's, but she assured me when she gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Hey guys," said Enobaria. She went up to them and hugged all of them. She seemed really happy around her friends. If they make her happy; I'm going to make an effort. She's worth it.

"What's he doing here?" asked Gale.

"Umm…," said Enobaria. "Brutus, can you go buy the tickets?"

She handed me some money, but I insisted. "I'll pay." I walked over to make the line to get the tickets while Enobaria was talking to her friends.

**Enobaria POV**

After Brutus went to make the line, I turned to face my confused friends. "Okay, I know what you're all thinking: he's a playboy, he cheated on you, he'll hurt you again, and you're making the biggest mistake of your life, blah blah blah. But I forgave him and he promised never to hurt me again." I never noticed that I was playing with my ring while I was explaining myself to them.

"When did this happen?" asked Peeta.

"Yesterday," I replied. "But we started to hang out as friends several days before."

"How did this happen?" asked Finch.

"Well," I began. "After the emergency slumber party, which I am very grateful for, I went home and decided to get a job. I went to a ballet school and I was offered a job. Brutus had to take his little sisters to their ballet class and I was their teacher. After the class, they invited me over to go eat ice cream with them because his sisters seemed quite fond of me, so I did. After that, I went over to Brutus' house and met his parents but I fainted because they were drowning me with questions about Brutus and I being a couple, not knowing that we had broken up. The day after, I was jogging and I met up with Brutus, so we jogged together. After that, we went to get smoothies and he invited me to a Christmas party at his house and I accepted because it was better than staying at my house all alone on Christmas Eve. That night, we drank hot chocolate, I met his family, and he told me that he loved me in French. He kissed me and I kissed him back. Then, he spent the night at my house because he was also going to be alone, and now here we are." I said all of that so fast; I think they didn't understand me at all.

"That is one crazy love story," said Annie.

"Did he give you that ring?" asked Rue.

"Yeah," I said, grinning.

"It's gorgeous," said Finch. I blushed a little.

"Alright," said Gale. "I'll give him another chance, just because he makes you happy. If he hurts you again, he won't even know what came to him."

"Yay!" I said while jumping up and down. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

After I said that, Brutus came in with a handful of tickets. "Let's go." We walked inside, hand in hand. We each went to the counter and ordered our skates. After we got our skates on, we headed to the ice rink. All of us split up because some were experienced while others were foreign to this, and some wanted to go fast while others wanted to go slow. When I mean experienced and fast, I mean the girls. Foreign and slow, I mean the boys, except Brutus. Brutus and I were ice skating super-fast hand in hand, just enjoying ourselves. One time, we fell on the ice and I landed on top of him. We laughed and I kissed him on the mouth, not caring what others thought of us. While the others were worn down, we were still bursting with energy.


	22. Chapter 22

**Johanna POV**

All of us were sitting in the bleachers taking our skates off while Enobaria and Brutus were skating their hearts out.

"Can we trust him?" I asked.

"I honestly don't know," said Gale.

"I think that we can," said Thresh. We all looked at him with confusion. "Haven't you noticed how much he changes when he's with Enobaria? He's not the playboy that he used to be before. He cares and loves Enobaria. I mean, he gave her a beautiful ring for Christmas and she gave him that watch he's wearing. Have you seen how happy Enobaria is when he's around?"

"He's got a point," said Katniss.

"I just don't want her to get hurt, again," I said.

"We'll make sure that she won't," said Gale.

"She does look happier when she's with him," said Rue while she was watching Brutus and Enobaria enjoying their time together.

"We should at least make an effort to be civilized with him," I said. "She's done so much for us. Gale, she bought you a new phone when you dropped your old one in the toilet. Peeta, she taught you how to make soufflé. Katniss, she helped you get an A on your fashion class by modeling your clothes. Rue and Thresh, she taught you some camping tips and tricks. Finch, she let you use her face so that you could practice your stage makeup. Madge, she tutored you for Science. It doesn't even matter what she's done for us because we're her friends and she's counting on us to make an effort."

"You're right," said Finnick. Then, Enobaria and Brutus were tired and they went and sat down to take off their skates. "But we should clear up some thing with Brutus first. Can you go and take Enobaria away from him for about five minutes? It'll probably be impossible since they are inseparable."

"We'll come up with something," said Annie.

**Brutus POV**

After taking off our skates, we headed to Enobaria's groups of friends. "Are you guys hungry?" asked Annie.

"I am," said Finnick.

"I'm starving," said Gale.

"Me too," said Thresh.

"Me three," said Peeta.

"How about you girls go get us some food?" asked Gale.

He handed Enobaria some money, but she refused. "It's fine, I'll pay." The girls walked to make the line for food while us guys talked.

"So Brutus," said Gale. "You and Enobaria, huh?"

"Yep," I said. "I know what you guys think of me, but I will never do something like that to Enobaria ever again."

"We trust you," said Peeta.

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "That quickly?"

"Yeah," said Finnick. "You make Enobaria really happy."

"Thanks," I said. Those next five minutes, we just talked about each other. Peeta paints, Gale writes songs, Thresh sculpts, and Finnick choreographs dances.

"What do you do?" asked Peeta.

"I play guitar," I replied.

"Electric, bass, acoustic?" asked Finnick.

"All of those," I said.

"Impressive, indeed," said Thresh. I was beginning to like Enobaria's group of friends. Then the girls came with a load of food in their hands. Enobaria handed me a hot chocolate and we split a salty pretzel. The rest of the morning we all talked, said jokes, laughed, and bonded. At noon time, we all said our goodbyes and left.


	23. Chapter 23

**Brutus POV**

Enobaria and I were walking hand in hand to my car, and I had a big grin plastered on my face. "Why are you smiling so much?"

"Because I accomplished what I wanted to do today," I replied.

Enobaria stopped walking and faced me. "Going ice skating was your accomplishment?" she asked me.

I chuckled and kissed her on the temple. "No," I said. "Hanging out with you and your friends."

"Oh," she said. Then we continued to walk in silence.

I got a phone call from Gloss. "Sorry." I picked up the phone a little aggravated. "What is it now?"

"Man," said Gloss. "What's go your balls in a twist?"

"Did you call me just to ask me that?" I asked.

"Nope," said Gloss. "Wanna do something? I'm bored."

"I'm a little busy at the moment," I said, referring to being with Enobaria.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm with Baria," I said.

"Who's 'Baria'?" asked Gloss. _How come no one understands my adorable nickname for her?_

"Enobaria," I clarified.

"Wait," said Gloss. "So you two made up?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Sweet," he said. "Now you can get inside her pants."

"I am not trying to get inside her pants!" I yelled. Then I remembered that I was in the middle of the street and everyone was watching me, especially Enobaria. I mouthed the word 'sorry' and went back to my conversation with Gloss.

"Alright," said Gloss. "Sheesh, I get it. Ooh! I got an idea!"

"That's supposed to be good because…" I said.

"Why don't you, Enobaria, me, Cato, Clove, Glimmer, Marvel, Cashmere and I go out tonight and do something. I'd like to know her," said Gloss. This is why I never let Gloss be in charge of ideas.

"I don't know," I said while still holding onto Enobaria's hand.

"Come on!" he said. "It'll be fun! And I'll make the rest of the group behave, promise."

"Let me ask her," I said before putting him on hold. "Gloss asked if you would like to do something tonight with the group."

"Sure," said Enobaria. I looked at her confused; I thought she would have no interest at all to spend time with my friends. I guess she wanted to get along with my friends like I did with hers.

"You sure?" I asked her.

"Positive," I said.

I reached for my phone and talked to Gloss. "She said sure. Where to?"

"Hmmm…." said Gloss. "Pizza?!"

"You want pizza?" I asked Enobaria.

"Whatever you want," she said.

"Pizza it is," I said. "Meet us at Papa John's in a half hour." I hung up. Enobaria smiled and we continued to walk to my car. _Lord help me; please let this night go well._

XXX

We got in the car and drove to Papa John's. I noticed that Enobaria was a little silent and she was playing with her ring. I couldn't help but grin when I saw how much Enobaria liked her present, but I was also a little worried because I knew she was nervous about something.

"Baby," I said while taking her hand in mine while using the other to control the wheel. "Why are you nervous?"

"I'm not nervous," she said while sitting up a little straighter.

"Yes, you are," I said. I drove to the sidelines and put the car on park. "What's wrong?"

She sighed and faced me. "I'm just a little worried about what your friends are gonna think of me. I mean, Cashmere probably hates me, I know nothing about Clove or Marvel, the only contact I've made with Gloss is having to go into his car and let him drive me home, I beat Glimmer in 'Karaoke All Night', and Cato; he's alright I guess."

"Baria," I said. "I promise you that they're amazing people and that they're going to love you. Well, not as much as I love you. Anyways, you just need to get to know them a little better; they're really great people, even though they're too stubborn to show it." She giggled at that last sentence. "Don't worry. They were the ones who wanted to get to know you."

"Alright," said Enobaria before kissing me on the cheek. Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at Papa John's and we got out of the car. We waited by the car for the others to arrive. I was so bored just waiting there. _Time to have some fun,_ I thought. I grabbed Enobaria's waist and pushed her back to my car, then I leaned in and kissed her. She didn't fight back; she was actually enjoying this act of PDA. We were interrupted when we heard a car pull up about twenty feet from us.

"Break it up, you two love birds," said Gloss. I chuckled and stepped away from the car. Gloss, Cashmere, Cato, Clove, Glimmer, and Marvel got out of the car.

"Hey, Enobaria," said Cato. He smiled and she returned it. "Long time, no see."

"Hi Cato," she said.

"Marvel," said Marvel while reaching out his hand for her to shake, which she did. "You don't need to tell us who you are. We know plenty already."

"Glimmer," said Glimmer.

"I'm Clove," said Clove.

"You've already met me," said Gloss.

"Cashmere," said Cashmere in a cold voice. There was a weird silence in the air, and it did not help that Cashmere was glaring at Enobaria.

"Well," I said while clapping my hands together. "Let's go." We walked in and were escorted to a table for eight. I sat next to Enobaria, who sat next to Cato, who sat next to Clove, who sat next to Marvel, who sat next to Glimmer, who sat next to Cashmere, who sat next to Gloss, who sat next to me. The waiter came by and asked us if we wanted any drinks.

"Uh," I said. "Eight large orange sodas." With that said and done, the waiter left. We all decided on an extra-large pepperoni pizza with stuffed cheese crust, even though Cashmere argued about all the fat, the calories, the grams, the carbs, blah blah blah. She'll eat some of it, eventually.

"So," said Gloss to Enobaria. "Tell us about yourself."

"Okay," said Enobaria. "My name's Enobaria Jane Ryder, I'm from New York but I live in multiple states, I have an older brother, and yeah." She didn't bring up the whole being rich thing because she hated talking about it.

"Ryder as in Lacrosse Ryder, right?" asked Marvel. _Great, worst way to start the night._

"Yeah," she replied.

"Are you in Panem Arts on scholarship?" asked Clove.

"Yes," said Enobaria. Then Cashmere whispered something to Glimmer and Marvel about her being spoiled, rich, obnoxious, and that she probably got a scholarship because of her daddy. Cashmere giggled, but Glimmer and Marvel gave her a disapproving look.

"What talents do you do?" asked Cashmere. "I mean, you have to be really good to be on scholarship."

"I dance and sing," replied Enobaria.

"Are you any good at any of them?" asked Cashmere, as if she didn't believe her talents.

"You know she's good at them," said Cato. "She beat you and Glimmer in 'Karaoke All Night'. Remember? Sorry for saying that, Glimmer."

"I wasn't asking you," said Cashmere to Cato. "I mean, how do we know if you got a scholarship because of your talents? How do we know if you even got into the school because of your daddy? Huh, maybe he bribed the board of school, or better yet, fucked some of them to let you in. He'd do anything to keep his little brat as spoiled as you are now." With that said, Enobaria sat in her seat, her eyes a little watery, staying frozen from what Cashmere just said.

"Cashmere!" I snapped. "That's enough!"

"Well, at least I've got a point," she said. "Maybe she got everything she wanted in her life because of her rich background. I bet you that she doesn't even deserve half of the things she has now."

"That was harsh, Cash," said Gloss.

"I'm sorry, but it's true," said Glimmer.

"You were all supposed to be on my side!" yelled Cashmere. "Especially you!" She was pointing at me. "Don't think I haven't noticed the ring on her finger!" She stormed out of the restaurant.

"Sorry about my sister," said Gloss while standing up. "She just has some adjusting to do." He ran out of Papa John's to pursue his angry sister.

XXX

_God, this night is a disaster._ I can't believe Cashmere would say something like that to Enobaria. She hates talking about her background, a lot. "Baria? Baria, are you alright?"

"Fine," she said.

Then Gloss came in and sat back down. "Cash said that she would not be joining us for dinner tonight and she needs to cool down a bit," Gloss took a sip of his orange soda.

"Alright then," said Cato. "Let's play a game. Ooh! Let's play Truth or Embarrass."

"What's that?" asked Enobaria.

"It's easy," said Marvel. "The person with the turn rolls the dice. If it lands on an even, the person has to talk about an embarrassing moment in their life. If it's odd, the person has to tell the truth about a question that is asked."

"Sounds fun," said Enobaria. "But we don't have any dice."

"I do!" said Cato while reaching through his front pockets for a dice.

"I'll go first," I said. I rolled and it landed on a four. "When I was eight, I was forced to go to the mall with my mom and I had to follow her everywhere she went. I drew the line when it came to entering Victoria's Secret, but she made me go. All the women were looking at me weirdly, and I was so embarrassed." All of the guys started laughing at me, even Enobaria. I didn't care though, I was happy that I made Enobaria smile, again.

"My turn!" said Cato. He rolled the dice and it landed on a one.

"What is your middle name?" asked Glimmer.

"Monica," murmured Cato, while looking at his lap in embarrassment.

"I'll go now," said Clove. It landed on a three.

"Where did Cato take you on your first date?" asked Marvel.

"To a petting zoo!" said Clove. We all burst out laughing and Cato slumped down on his seat.

"You told me you liked animals!" defended Cato.

"I know," said Clove. "But really, Cato? Was a petting zoo the only option you could think of?"

"I had fun," Cato murmured to himself.

"My turn!" said Gloss. His dice landed on a three. "When I was seven, I sat on Santa's lap in the mall and asked him for a puppy. 'Santa' said that I would never get a puppy and I got really mad at him because 'Santas' aren't supposed to say those things to people, especially children. I got mad and I peed on him while still sitting on his lap."

"Man," said Cato. "That is hilarious!"

"Your turn," said Glimmer to Enobaria.

"Alright," she said while taking the dice in her hand. She rolled the dice and it landed on a two. "Ask away."

"Did you get Brutus that Cartier watch and did he give you that ring?" asked Cato.

"Yes and yes," replied Enobaria while blushing a bit.

"Awww," said Cato, Clove, Marvel, Glimmer, and Gloss at the same time.

"You guys are so cute together!" said Glimmer.

"Food's here!" said Gloss. The extra-large pepperoni pizza with stuffed cheese crust was put right in the middle of the round table. I gotta say, for someone like Enobaria's size, she has a very big appetite. She drank down her entire large orange soda, also drank some of mine, and had three slices of pizza. After we were done, I got a text message from my mom asking if I was doing alright. I replied and said that 'Everything is great'.

"Cute wallpaper," said Cato while glancing at my phone.

"What is it?" asked Gloss. I tried to hide my phone from them because I didn't want them to see what my wallpaper was, but Gloss took it out of my hands. "Aww, that is so adorable! Enobaria, look!" He handed her my phone and she smiled at my wallpaper. My wallpaper was a picture of Sam, Cara, and Enobaria the night of the Christmas party.

"Aww," she said. She faced me and kissed me on the cheek. "That is absolutely adorable." The waiter came with the check and I quickly grabbed my wallet, but Enobaria took out her card and gave it to the waiter, who then walked away before I could say anything.

"I was going to pay," I told her.

"You paid for skates today, remember?" she asked. I gave up and decided to let her pay.

"Wait!" said Cato. "We didn't eat dessert!"

"Relax," I said. "We can go out for ice cream, if you want."

"Yay!" said Cato while clapping his hands together like a sassy person. After dinner, we walked over to Ben and Jerry's which was five minutes away.

XXX

After walking together for five minutes, we finally arrived at Ben and Jerry's. We all sat down and I offered to make the line. When I got the order, I went to make the line, and Enobaria decided to make the line with me just because.

"One cone with mango-mango, one cone with phish food, one cone with lemon sorbet, one cone with cookies 'n cream, one cone with strawberry sorbet, and two cones with chocolate chip cookie dough." I said.

"How did you know what I wanted?" asked Enobaria.

"Because you always get cookie dough," I replied. After we got our ice cream, Enobaria and I went to the table and we all ate our ice cream together in peace.

"So when did you and Brutus get back together?" asked Gloss.

"Well," said Enobaria. "After an emergency slumber party with my friends, I went home and decided to get a job. I went to a ballet school and I was offered a job. Brutus had to take his little sisters to their ballet class and I was their teacher. After the class, they invited me over to go eat ice cream with them because his sisters seemed quite fond of me, so I did. After that, I went over to Brutus' house and met his parents but I fainted because they were drowning me with questions about Brutus and I being a couple, not knowing that we had broken up. The day after, I was jogging and I met up with Brutus, so we jogged together. After that, we went to get smoothies and he invited me to a Christmas party at his house and I accepted because it was better than staying at my house all alone on Christmas Eve. That night, we drank hot chocolate, I met his family, and he told me that he loved me in French. He kissed me and I kissed him back. Then, he spent the night at my house because he was also going to be alone, and now here we are."

"Oh," said Cato. "That explains it."

"That is so cute," said Glimmer.

"I agree," said Clove.

"You speak French?" asked Gloss.

"Yep," she replied. "Also speak Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and sign language."

Five minutes later, we all finished with our ice cream and walked back to the cars. We said goodbye and went into my car. I turned on the radio and out of nowhere, my mind shut down and my heart told me to kiss Enobaria. So I did, and I definitely grabbed her by surprise. She didn't stop me though. She put her hands on either side of my neck and pulled me to her, never breaking the kiss. Those twenty minutes were the best twenty minutes of my life.


	24. Chapter 24

**Brutus POV**

A couple of days after going to Papa John's with my friends, Enobaria and I decided to just relax for the day. We were upstairs in her bedroom, cuddling on her big bed. I had my arms wrapped around her while she faced me and held onto my hands. She was inspecting them in a playful manner, and I couldn't help but grin. She was so beautiful; I love how she's different from all the other girls. She's smart, gorgeous, caring nice, sweet, I could go on forever. All of a sudden, a question came up to my mind. "Remember the first day we met?"

"How can I not?" she replied while chuckling.

"This might seem out of them bloom," I said. "But when I called you by your last name, why did you start to cry?"

She sighed and shifted a little, uncomfortable with the situation. "Okay, my dad being the best quarterback player is the dream for most people. Having the world's top fashion designer as your mom is the life, to others. My parents having a busy career and a crazy life affected me the most. I never really loved them because they never treated me as their daughter and I barely saw them. I started to realize that being their daughter was a curse because everyone knew me for just being their daughter, and nothing more. As for my brother Jason, he didn't care at all. He was first born, so he was the favorite. He literally had no self-respect and he didn't care about the fact that people used him for his money and for his fame. I was used so many times in my life because they wanted to have access to my rich life and parents. My friends only pretended to like me, my boyfriend broke up with me after I told him that I was coming here because he wouldn't get attention for my father, and practically my entire life was been a –" she stopped when her voice began to crack and tears began to form in her eyes.

I wrapped a protective arm around her and held her, she hugged me bag and gripped onto me tightly. "Shh, shh, it's okay. We're not like those bastards back in New York. We like you because of you, not because of your background."

"It's just that," she said. "I feel as if my whole life has been a fake. I am constantly thinking about the fact that people have given me what I've wanted just because of my stupid last name. What if what Cashmere said is true? What if I've actually never deserved what I have now? Who knows, maybe I got into this school because of my parents, maybe I got a scholarship because of them too, maybe I –"

"Baria! Stop!" I said. "You are the most talented, amazing, gifted person I have ever met. You're not like the other rich people, you're not obnoxious, and you're not arrogant. You like to be treated just like everybody else and that's one of the things I love about you. You're the nicest, most beautiful, caring person in the entire world and you always push me to be the best of what I am."

"I love you, you know that?" she asked me before kissing me on the mouth.

"I know," I replied after breaking the kiss. "Do you know what I love you?"

"Of course," she said to me in between kisses. "But don't ever leave me, again."

"I promise," I said. "I have the greatest gift of all sitting right in front of me and I am not about to give her up." She smiled and I kissed her forehead_. I love you, Baria. I will never leave you._

**THE END**


End file.
